Chicken-Induced Traffic Jams

Noticed traffic jams this week in Chelsea? Believe it or not, they’re due to the opening of the new Pollo Campero, the vastly popular Guatemala-based chain of fast-food chicken joints. The new restaurant, a 42-seater with a drive-thru open until 4 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights, has proved so popular that no matter what time of night and day hounds have attempted visits, there’s always a long line. Even in the rain. Sometimes as long as three or four hours!

So what’s the chicken-crack Pollo Campero is selling? Hounds who tasted it were hard-pressed to describe its deliciousness, which reportedly is such that folks returning to the United States from Central America frequently bring a bunch of Campero boxes back with them. Luther allows that the chicken is “kind of greasy but not battered,” itaunas has tried Campero from other outlets both in the U.S. and Central America and says “the chicken [was] tender and not dried out … Portion size pretty small, these aren’t monster overgrown chickens.”

Along with the fried and rotisserie chicken, Campero offers sides like yucca, plantains, beans, and rice.